As part of our continued coverage, we’re taking a look at some top memory kits for your Ryzen 5 and 7 processor.

You’ve probably heard of all the problems that PC enthusiasts are having with getting their Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 system Ram to post at a good speed. While some of these problems have or will be resolved, there certainly are some steps you can take to avoid them.

Considering how much AMD’s Ryzen platform excels with faster memory and a good overclock (up to 30% from stock), it’s an important consideration for sure. That being said, spend too much, and your money might be better used elsewhere. The ideal sweet spot, for budget builds, seems to be getting a 2667MHz kit and then to OC from there. To make things more confusing, not all 2667MHz kits are made equal.

Here’s one thing we recommend. You’ll want to go with a well-known motherboard manufacturer. Supported manufacturers for your RAM are typically listed on the vendor website.

Want to get the absolute most out of Ryzen? Use kits that have verified Samsung B-Die. We’ll give you a list of these options down below. B-Die should allow you to get to 3200MHz. They don’t need to be shown as “AMD DDR4 compatible” as this is mostly a marketing gimmick. Anything listed as 3600MHz or greater should fall into this category. For budget-friendly options, you should be able to reach 2933MHz with Samsung E-Die.

Best DDR4 Ram / Memory for reaching 3200MHz on Ryzen 2017

Looking for the right kit for reaching 3200MHz on your Ryzen 5 or 7 PC? Here are a few verified B-die kits, verified in this thread, that will work. All of these models are verified Samsung B-Die kits. While they aren’t the cheapest options out there, they should get you where you want to go. With each of these series are various models that are completely different. Pay attention to the lists down below so that you know the actual models we recommend. Again, those of you building a budget Ryzen system may want to check out some options below as settling for 2966MHz may save you some money.

For those using the B350 chipset, checking the ram QVL on the motherboard vendor site is helpful. Memory requirements for that chipset seem to be a bit tighter than those on the X370 platform.

G. Skill TridentZ, V Series, and Flare X

If you’re looking for good performing Ram for your Ryzen PC, then an option from the Trident Z, V Series, and Flare X lines from G. Skill is a good idea. Check through all of the options on our list in order to get the best deal. Pricing seems to vary considerably by website, so you’ll want to look around as well. We’ve listed prices from both Amazon and NewEgg above to facilitate the process.

As we never listed it on the table, D-Die options include the following G; Skill models; F4-2800C15D-16GTZ, F4-3000C15D-16GTZ, F4-3200C16D-16GTZ, and F4-3400C16D-16GTZ. These are all confirmed Samsung E-die options for G. Skill’s Trident Z series. If you can get them for a reasonable price, they might be preferable to other options for your particular build. Also be sure to take into consideration the option below.

A Good Budget DDR4 Kit for AMD Ryzen 7 and 5 CPU

Need to save some money? I get it. You want the performance from the higher performing memory kits, but don’t want to pay for it. We recommend G. Skill’s Flare X Series DDR4 2400 Model F4-2400C15D-16GFX. Voltage starts at 1.2V and it’s likely you’ll be able to mirror the performance of the higher-end F4-3200C14D with some additional voltage. As this Ram costs around $100, you’ll be able to save some serious cheese. No guarantees on this one, but we’re hearing good things.

G. Skill Flare X DDR4 2400

G. Skill’s model F4-2400C15D-16GFX is a good option for budget-minded gamers. It has the same great look of the more expensive modules (red or black) and it should perform very well when tweaked. The best part is that it’s around 40% cheaper than the comparable 3200MHz model F4-3200C14D-GFX. Out of the box specifications are DDR4 2400 with 15-15-15-39 timing and 1.2V.

Like the more expensive model, it’s listed as designed and tested for Ryzen and includes a limited lifetime parts and labor warranty.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, we think this is one of the better budget options for Ryzen 5 builders. Combine it with an inexpensive B350 motherboard, and you’ll get incredible performance for the money you spend.

Ram Guide – Understanding Timings

We all see those numbers written across the specifications. If you’re unsure how they work or what they are, here’s a brief explanation. First of all the numbers are written in a particular order that represents values written as clock cycles for CAS Latency, tRCD, tRP, tRAS, and finally Command Rate. Lower is better.

CAS Latency

Some definitions can get overly complicated. So, we’ll try to make this as simple as possible. Most of you understand latency as a delay and, in this case, that’s what we’re talking about here. The delay from when the memory controller tells a module to access a specific column and when the data is available from that location’s output pins.

tRCD

tRCD is the row address to column address delay. It represents the number of cycles between the active command and the read/write command.

tRAS

tRAS or row active time is a number of clock cycles that are taken between a bank active command and issuing the precharge command.

tRP

This is basically the time it takes to terminate one row access and to start another one.

Command Rate

Command rate is the delay from when a chip select is asserted and commands can be issued to the RAM. Typically the values for this are 1T or one clock cycle and 2T or two clock cycles.

Ryzen 7 and 5 Memory Benchmarks

Want to see exactly how much your Ryzen system can improve from faster memory speeds? We recommend Guru 3D’s benchmarks for this one. They go through 7 games and several applications. Performance is shown for stock processors with increased memory speeds as well as overclocked processors. We wish that they would have shown an overclocked processor with all the memory speeds, however, they’ve still done a thorough job.

Summary

If you want to get the most out of your Ryzen system, you’ll want faster memory speeds. Kits that use Samsung’s B-die are ideal. However, with the price of these budget builders may want to opt for alternatives that can reach the sweet spot, which we’d consider 2966MHz. Price checking may allow some to get better kits for cheap when they come on sale.

In addition, it’s likely that additional kits other than the Samsung B-Die ones will be able to achieve 3200MHz and beyond in the future. If you’re willing to be patient, you’ll likely be able to save some money. However, that seems to always be the case.